Video Editing
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Framed by a Rabbit? No its FrameByFrame for Stop Motion movie creation
This is another one of those freeware "does one thing and does it well" application. It's a very simple to use and runs on OSX 10.4+. It accepts live video (including from iSight- the built in camera) or from an external camera and then allows you to take snapshots of the current frame- frame by frame. This is actually designed for stop motion animation and so is not really suitable for capturing a complete video stream. It is based on Quicktime.
The snapshots can then be assembled into a movie clip which you can run at from 1 frame per second (fps) to 30 fps. You can also insert images, such as .pdf pages into the sequence. The display appears to be modelled on iMovie and I could see it as an excellent "plug-in" for iMovie. To assist with stop frame animation it provides a ghosted overlay of the current frame onto the previously captured frame. To improve the captured image, the capture process can average up to 20 frames.
i can see enormous potential here for overlaying graphics and actual video. A good example would be in developing a simulation package in science where one frame each day of a long process (say over several weeks- like for recording growing pea plants) could then be assembled into a speeded up movie (say over 1 minute)- and with interspersed graphics. You could also record your own version of the keystone cops! Download your free copy of FrameByFrame.
Creating video clips with Clip Creator 2
Another similar freeware application is Clip Creator 2. This is not a very mature product, but it does the job. It has the ability to stitch together imported video snippets, extract the audio and cut a video clip into several fixed length parts. It has a very easy to use interface. Using QT as the underlying engine means that video with any frame size can be imported and exported. Export settings are easy to alter.
Creating video clips with ZonMotion
And still they keep coming: Zonmotion is another example. This one allows you to compose a movie or save each of the snapshots as a floder of still images.
Playing ANY audio video file, even from a Windows machine!
The Macintosh platform, thanks mainly to the Quicktime architecture, is capable of playing almost any audio or video file. Here is how I give myself a fighting chance to play those Windows files. In some cases I have been able to play Windows files that are not playable on some Windows machines (they haven't installed the appropriate codecs).
- Install Flip4Mac WMV - its free and appears in the System Preferences pane when installed
- Install Perian - it appears in the System preferences pane.
- Install Miro and use it to play those difficult to play files like .flv files or .wmv files or even Divx. It is an excellent BitTorrent download manager.
Like much of the software today for Macs, these feature clickable updaters (provided of course you are connected to the Internet). This combination of Quicktime plug-ins, with Safari, iTunes and Miro appears to be able to play almost any Windows files. They are easily installed and play nice with each other.
